


Something Else Entirely

by lol-phan-af (lol_phan_af)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:45:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11900916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lol_phan_af/pseuds/lol-phan-af
Summary: Thomas had two major important relationships in his life. One, his friendship with James, the only person who tolerated Thomas a majority of the time, and the only one who would willingly spend time with him after he gets drunk on chardonnay and sings Britney Spears songs off key for the rest of the night. He was Thomas' best friend, and Thomas loved him to no end, perhaps more than he should've.The second relationship was the love hate rivalry he had with Hamilton, and he thrived on the high it gave him. Hamilton was like fire in his veins, burning embers igniting his every nerve down to Thomas' core. He was smug and annoying and Thomas drank him in every chance he got. The rough push and pull of their relationship left Thomas reeling, whether it was for another fight or something else entirely, he didn't know.





	Something Else Entirely

**Author's Note:**

> this could've been longer but i only got so much energy ya know

Thomas had two major important relationships in his life. One, his friendship with James, the only person who tolerated Thomas a majority of the time, and the only one who would _willingly_ spend time with him after he gets drunk on chardonnay and sings Britney Spears songs off key for the rest of the night. He was Thomas' best friend, and Thomas loved him to no end, perhaps more than he should've.  
  
The second relationship was the love hate rivalry he had with Hamilton, and he thrived on the high it gave him. Hamilton was like fire in his veins, burning embers igniting his every nerve down to Thomas' core. He was smug and annoying and Thomas drank him in every chance he got. The rough push and pull of their relationship left Thomas reeling, whether it was for another fight or something else entirely, he didn't know.  
  
"We can continue this later, if you want, at my apartment," Alex sneered when they were dismissed after their latest argument disguised as a meeting, smirking as Thomas panted, anger settled into every cell in his body, burning right down to the marrow in his bones.  
  
"Why would I do that?" Thomas asked, refusing to make eye contact with him.  
  
Alex laughed. "Judging by how hard your fists are clenched, and the fact that your nostrils are flared so wide they could be used as railroad tunnels, you seem like you have a lot more to say."  
  
"Fine," he gritted, "but we're meeting at my apartment. I wouldn't step foot in the neighborhood you live in."  
  
Alex scoffed but didn't disagree, grabbed Thomas' hand and scrawled his phone number on it, stalking away before Thomas could say anything. It felt like static on his skin where his hands touched Thomas', but he summed it up to it being the sensation of the ballpoint pen on his palm. He sighed, put his hands in his pockets and walked back to his office, groaning as he collapsed in his office chair. He propped his feet up on his desk, careful of any important papers, shut his eyes, and took a moment to recollect his thoughts.  
  
It wasn't five minutes before James barged in, not even bothering to knock. It wasn't like he had to, any opportunity for Thomas to see James was one he took, finding that the presence of the other mellowed him out just a bit.  
  
"What was that?" He questioned, shutting the door behind him. Thomas wasn't even angry anymore, just wanted to go home and eat leftovers, binge watch whatever he still had left to watch on his Netflix list.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
James sat down in the chair across from him. "You and Alex! He destroyed you in there, and you let him? He insulted your morals and your basic sense of human decency and you stood there like a piece of plywood, and you let him."  
  
"Was it really that bad?" He set his feet back on the ground, looking up at James with wide eyes. James swallowed, nodded silently. "Fuck."  
  
"I don't know if you can bounce back from this."  
  
Thomas rubbed his temples. "Hamilton is coming over to my apartment later, I'll just have to figure out a way to destroy him before then."  
  
"Why is he going to your apartment?"  
  
"To _discuss_ what happened during the meeting, if anything he's trying to get me to punch him where I won't get fired for it."  
  
"Good luck," James told him, getting up and leaving, rushing down the hall before Thomas could ask him what the rush was. He shrugged, pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out the number written in blue ink on his skin.  
  
**_Unknown Number_** _: be at my apartment by 8, if you're even one second late I won't open the door and call my super and say you broke in_  
  
**_Hamilton_** _: okay first of all, fuck you, just because_ _  
__  
_**_Hamilton_** _: second of all I'll be there by six don't even think about trying to lock me out_ _  
__  
_**_/Jefferson/_** _: dammit_ _  
__  
_ Thomas didn't want to go home, knowing that before he could relax, Hamilton would already be knocking on the door and bursting in partially invited, spouting nonsense at a painfully high volume. His words would spark the familiar irritation in Thomas, and soon they'd be yelling, following the routine they built in the past two years they knew each other, and the headache would set in and Thomas would spend all night rummaging around his house to find where he put the ibuprofen, because it was never in the same place twice.  
  
"Jefferson!" Alex called as Thomas made his way out of the building. Thomas sighed, turned to find him much closer than he thought. It was now that he saw Alex had freckles, dotting across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, disappearing under the bridge of his glasses. They were cute, Thomas started to wonder what it would be like to ki-  
  
"What do you want?" He asked, expecting some sly jab at what was to come.  
  
"You never gave me your address. How am I supposed to show up and verbally destroy you if I don't know where you live?" Alex grinned, winked at him, and Thomas couldn't find it in him to be annoyed.  
  
"I'll text you," he gritted out, swallowing the lump in his throat and turning out the door as Alex tried to respond. Don't think about it, don't think about _him_.  
  
Thomas got into his car, blaring music in his own ears and focusing on the road, _only_ the road.  
  
He got halfway through his dinner before there was a knock at the door, tiny, bony fists balling themselves up and beating the wooden door to Thomas' apartment with all the force he could manage at five and a half feet tall. Thomas groaned, contemplated never answering the door and letting Alexander freeze out there as it got colder, wake up the next morning and walk over his body, covered in icicles, and meet James for breakfast. Now, there was an idea.  
  
"I _know_ you're in there, asshole! Open the door!"  
  
Thomas didn't know what happened. Later, when he laid in his bed, tingling feeling covering every inch of him, he could, honest to god, not recall how he got into the position the ended up in.  
  
Alex, pressed up against Thomas' front door, looking at him with wide eyes. He wasn't _afraid_ of Thomas, looked up at him with vicious eyes, teeth like knives and lips burned red, cheeks bright red, flushed from anger, those freckles previously unrecognized by Thomas standing stark against tan skin. His eyelashes fluttered as he stared up at him, adjusted his neck where Thomas' forearm was pushing him.  
  
"I never pictured you being this forward, Jefferson," Alex told him, holding back his laughter.  
  
Thomas could feel it vibrating in his chest, they were standing so close. He tried to keep his breathing steady, but he knew Alex felt the rise and fall of his chest as it brushed against him. Alex's face fell, and then Thomas leaned in and they didn't get past a brush of their lips before Alex pushed against his chest, and Thomas got the message.  
  
Maybe he imagined it, the tension that hung over them like fog, like the wool Thomas pulled over his own eyes that stopped him from seeing just how god damned _pretty_ Alexander was. Perhaps Alex saw nothing between them, and maybe he was just now realizing that Thomas _did_.  
  
He stepped away from Alex, the latter's shocked face and hands braced against the door, nails digging into the door, Thomas didn't care what he had to say. He stumbled going into his room and slammed the door behind him, heart breaking over something that until a moment ago, did not matter to him.  
  
The front door clicked shut and Thomas collapsed on his bed, body heavy, sinking into the mattress.  
  
He felt like he was filled with static, goosebumps covering his skin, hands shaking where Thomas held them out in front of him, wiggling his fingers to make sure he was real. Tears dotted his eyes as his heart sunk somewhere beneath him, through the memory foam and box spring and into the apartment below his, down the floors until it was buried under the concrete foundation of his building, buried in earth, the pressure crushing him into dust, the dust he is made of, the dust he shall return to.  
  
He didn't even think he felt that strongly for Hamilton, _Alex_. He knew their rivalry held more passion, more fire, than it had any right to, that there was something there, he just didn't think it was _this_.  
  
Thomas didn't give it any more thought, asked James out to breakfast, waited for him to say yes, plugged his phone in and went to bed. He didn't want to think about this day anymore than he had to.  
  
Thomas felt like a criminal, sitting across from James in the little breakfast place they liked to eat at sometimes. James was Thomas' best friend, and he wouldn't be _angry_ that Thomas had feelings for and almost kissed Alex, but Thomas was angry at himself for it. James was _right there_ , and he had to go and have feelings for both of them.  
  
"You okay?" James asked, setting his cup of tea down on the table. Thomas could see his legs in the holes of the table design, his hands fidgeting, unsure what to do or say or how to act around the man who he loved, the man who would know if he lied about his question.  
  
Thomas shrugged. "Had a rough night," he mumbled, didn't look at him. He wasn't lying. That counted for something.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
James was a force to be reckoned with in the office, worked silently, waiting for the moment when he could strike. People were shot down and approved and moved around by and for James before they even knew it, and he never mentioned anything, let them realize when they got around to it. He was confusing like that, and Thomas admired it, envied it.  
  
That wasn't all he was, though. James, if you cared about him enough to get to know him, was terrifying to work against, but a blessing to be friends with. He knew how to read people, worked them out, always told the truth about what he thought. It didn't make it easy, when he gave advice or comfort, but it made it real. Thomas needed real sometimes.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Okay, that's fine. How was your thing with Hamilton?"  
  
Thomas turned bright red as he answered, "Fine. He came over and yelled some shit, I yelled some shit back, he left before eight, it wasn't really anything."  
  
"Are you kidding? When you and Hamilton argue, it's like firecrackers go off in your mind, Thomas. That one time you had an argument about ketchup goes in the fridge and you ranted about it for an hour afterwards. He comes over your house, gets in an argument with you, and it wasn't really anything?"  
  
"It was all the same things from earlier, same arguments, same insults. He wasted my time, really." His voice came out as a whisper, curling further in on himself. He couldn't wait to go home, prayed James left this alone instead of pressing further. Thomas prayed he didn't lose him.  
  
"Alright. Do you want me to come over your place? We don't have to anything, could spend the rest of the day watching that show about the guy you think is hot."  
  
Thomas snorted. "Luke Cage is beautiful, how you don't see that makes _no_ sense to me, but I think I'll be okay, I think. I'm probably going to go back and sleep."  
  
"Okay," James whispered, nodded. He took a steady breath and Thomas watched him. This wasn't like them, and he cursed Alex for somehow fucking up everything in his life with something that didn't even _happen_.  
  
Thomas went home after an awkward goodbye and a hug that lasted far too long, burying himself under his comforter and passing out, ignoring the outside world in favor of the warmth and ignorance of his bed.  
  
His heart jumped as his phone rang, vibrating against his hip. Thomas groaned, pulling out his phone and answering it without looking who was calling. He was delighted to hear James' voice on the other line, not willing to deal with anything or anyone else at the moment.  
  
" _Why didn't you tell me that you and Alex almost kissed yesterday?_ " He questioned, voice soft, not accusing Thomas of anything, but also not letting him off scot free.  
  
"Who told you about that?" He pulled the covers down, flinching as the cold air hit his skin.  
  
" _Alex! I asked him out for lunch and he told me. I don't think he meant to, he thought I was interrogating him and blurted it out before I could-_ "  
  
Thomas sat up. "Since when are you and Alex on a level where you can go to lunch with each other, and how did I never know about it?" He crawled out of bed, put James on speaker while he changed out of his clothes and put on pajamas. Fucking christ, he was so thirsty.  
  
" _I knew you would be upset if I told you, or at least I thought you would be. Now, I'm not sure._ "  
  
"Oh, trust me. I'm upset." He ripped open his fridge, set the phone on the counter while he opened the bottle and downed it in one go. Water was so good, why did Thomas even bother with anything else?  
  
" _Exactly. You may not like him, and his ideas may be kind of shitty, but he's entertaining, a good person to have around. We're friends, I guess._ "  
  
Thomas' heart felt heavy again, like it was going to burn a hole in his floors. "That's nice."  
  
" _Sure. You still haven't answered my question, though._ "  
  
"I don't know, it was stupid. We _almost_ kissed, I didn't know I had feelings for him before that."  
  
Thomas heard James dress shoes stop dragging across the pavement, the bustle of the city surrounding him as he remained silent. Thomas couldn't breathe, he didn't think before he spoke and now James _knew_ , but it was only half the story. What James didn't know fit puzzle pieces together that made a picture Thomas couldn't comprehend.  
  
" _Do, uhm, do you have feelings for him_ now _? Is that something you'd want to, like, do something about?_ " He sniffed on the other line, and it felt like Thomas was watching his entire life burn down in front of his very eyes.  
  
"Do you want to come over? Like, I know I said no before, but I want to talk to you, so-"  
  
" _I'll be over in five._ "  
  
James hung up, and Thomas stared into his fridge. Well what the fuck was he supposed to do now?  
  
He ended up calling Alex, ignoring whatever the fuck he said when he greeted him and getting straight to the point. He needed to fix this, and while it was a leap, it was one Thomas had to take.  
  
"You never said you and James were friends."  
  
" _When would I have the chance? Arguing with each other and you staring at my ass doesn't exactly qualify as a relationship, let alone one where we discuss our mutual acquaintances. That's what James is, by the way, an acquaintance_."  
  
"He thinks you're sort of friends."  
  
Thomas heard a door slam shut before Alex said, " _Really? Did he say that?_ "  
  
"Come over to my apartment and I'll tell you."  
  
He expected Alex to make another smart ass comment, something about the innuendo that tumbled out of Thomas' mouth before he knew better, but he didn't get one. Alex found an endless amount of way to surprise him in the past two days, and now it felt like he was going for some kind of record.  
  
" _Hey, is this about yesterday?_ " Thomas could barely hear him. " _You can yell at me, never speak to me again, we don't even have to argue anymore. You can cut me out entirely, whatever, just, whatever,"_ he repeated, then fell silent.  
  
"What are you talking about? I was the one who leaned in, you didn't-? You didn't do anything. What?"  
  
" _Oh! I just thought you were mad at me because of how I-_ " he cleared his throat. " _Whatever, it doesn't matter._ "

"Okay," Thomas muttered. "Come over to my apartment, though. I wasn't, like, joking or anything."  
  
" _I'll be over in five._ "  
  
"See you here."  
  
James showed up after the call ended, out of breath with his jacket clutched in his hand. Despite the cold outside, he was sweating, and Thomas couldn't stop staring at his neck. He wanted to kiss James until he couldn't breathe, then marks in the shape of his mouth right over the tendons in his neck.  
  
"You didn't have to run here, you know," Thomas commented, arms crossed over his chest. James looked up at him from the chair he was hunched over on.  
  
"You said you wanted to talk to me, I said I'd be there in five. I'm punctual and dedicated."  
  
"I appreciate it, but you could've been a little late. We're waiting for Alex to get here."  
  
James sat up, eyes wide. "Why? What's happening?"  
  
"I'll tell you when I figure it out."  
  
"Thomas, I don't think I want to be here for this."  
  
"What, why?"  
  
James wiped the sweat from his forehead with his jacket sleeve. "I don't, I wouldn't be comfortable with it."  
  
"James, it's not like-"  
  
He shot up to his feet. "I don't want to be here, okay! I don't want to be here." He went over to the door, stopped as Thomas dived for him, grabbing his hand before he could turn the knob.  
  
"You don't get to just walk out on me like that. _Talk_ to me, I'm your best friend."  
  
"I know you're my best friend. I _know_ that. That's why I can't be here."  
  
Thomas' eyebrows furrowed. "What? I don't get it."  
  
James took his hand away from Thomas, refusing to face him as he rest his head against the door. "I love you, okay? I've always loved you. I can't sit here and watch as you chose Alex over me because he's more exciting than I am, and he's shiny and new and I'm _nothing_ compared to him. I can't watch that."  
  
"You really think I asked you over here just to watch me chose Alex? You really think that after all these years of knowing you, I would somehow manage to _not_ fall head over heels in love with you?"  
  
James whipped around to face him. "Really?"  
  
"I asked you to come over here because I love you, and I feel _something_ for Alex, and I wanted to sort of strike up an arrangement, between the three of us."  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"How would you feel about dating me _and_ Alex? It wouldn't be easy, and I know you don't have feelings for him-"  
  
"Well I wouldn't say _that_ . He's cute as fuck, anyone with working vision could see that."  
  
"Right! So, if he agrees to it, then we could all, sort of, figure this out together, I guess. I would really like to date the both of you, see how it works out and stuff."  
  
James grinned. "You're adorable."  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes, beaming at James before Alex knocked at the door, much softer than yesterday. James moved out of the way so Thomas could answer.  
  
"You asked me to come over?"  
  
Thomas smiled wider. "Right."  
  
Later that night, as Thomas fell asleep with James curled around him and Alex curled into his side, he knew he made the right decision.  
  
His heart felt lighter than ever.

**Author's Note:**

> !!! this has no plot and isn't edited but bih I'm tired and kind of proud of it so!!
> 
> comments are my Life, ty for reading!!
> 
> tumblr: lol-phan-af


End file.
